Photos of the week: The long walk to freedom

This last week, nearly 200 Sudanese asylum seekers refused to check in to their nightly roll call at the Holot ‘open’ prison in Israel’ south, choosing instead to march to Jerusalem in protest of their imprisonment without trial and the state’s failure to respond to their asylum claims. After spending a night sleeping on the floor of the Be’er Sheva central bus station and another night on a kibbutz, they completed their march to the Knesset where they were met by Israeli immigration officers who arrested them forced them back onto buses.

African refugees gather outside the central bus station in the city of Be’er Sheva, after marching from the new Holot detention center to protest their imprisonment, December 15, 2013. (photo: Activestills.org)

African refugees gather outside the central bus station in the city of Be’er Sheva, after marching from the new Holot detention center to protest their imprisonment, December 15, 2013. (photo: Activestills.org)

African refugees gather outside the central bus station in the city of Be’er Sheva, after marching from the new Holot detention center to protest their imprisonment, December 15, 2013. (photo: Activestills.org)

African refugees sleep inside the central bus station in the city of Be’er Sheva, after marching from the new Holot detention center, in order to protest their imprisonment, December 15, 2013. (photo: Activestills.org)

After fleeing the Holot detention center, African asylum seekers take part in a protest march on the highway from Be’er Sheva in southern Israel to Jerusalem to protest their imprisonment. (photo: Activestills.org)

After fleeing the Holot detention center, African asylum seekers take part in a protest march on the highway from Be’er Sheva in southern Israel to Jerusalem to protest their imprisonment. (photo: Activestills.org)

After fleeing the Holot detention center, African asylum seekers take part in a protest march on the highway from Be’er Sheva in southern Israel to Jerusalem to protest their imprisonment. (photo: Activestills.org)

After fleeing the Holot detention center, African asylum seekers take part in a protest march on the highway from Be’er Sheva in southern Israel to Jerusalem to protest their imprisonment. (photo: Activestills.org)

African asylum seekers gather after their first day of marching from Be’er Sheva to Jerusalem to protest their imprisonment in the Holot ‘open’ prison. (photo: Activestills.org)

African asylum seekers prepare signs in Kibbutz Nahshon before broading a bus on their way to a protest outside the Knesset, following a three-day march from the south of Israel, December 17, 2013. (photo: Activestills.org)

Shoes and clothes belonging to african asylum seekers strewn outside in Kibbutz Nahshon after a two-day march from the south of Israel to the Knesset in Jerusalem. (photo: Activestills.org)

An African refugee looks out the window before starting the third day of March For Freedom, Kibbutz Nahshon, Israel, December 17, 2013. (photo: Activestills.org)

African refugees aboard a bus taking them to Jerusalem, on the third day of March For Freedom, December 17, 2013. (photo: Activestills.org)

African asylum seekers make their way toward the Knesset in Jerusalem following a three-day protest march from Israel’s south, December 17, 2013. (photo: Activestills.org)

African asylum seekers and Israeli activists try to prevent Israeli immigration officers from arresting them during a protest outside the Knesset following a three-day protest march from Israel’s south to Jerusalem, December 17, 2013. (photo: Activestills.org)

African asylum seekers and Israeli activists try to prevent Israeli immigration officers from arresting them during a protest outside the Knesset following a three-day protest march from Israel’s south to Jerusalem, December 17, 2013. (photo: Activestills.org)

Israeli immigration officers arrest african Asylum seekers during a protest outside the Israeli Knesset, following a three-day march from the south of Israel to Jerusalem, December 17, 2013. (photo: Activestills.org)

Israeli immigration officers arrest african asylum seekers during a protest outside the Knesset following a three-day march from the south of Israel to Jerusalem, December 17, 2013. (Activestills.org)

African Asylum seekers peer out from a bus window after being arrested by Israeli policemen and immigration officers during a protest outside the Knesset, following a three-day march from Israel’s south to Jerusalem, December 17, 2013. (photo: Activestills.org)

African refugees march during the March For Freedom, Negev desert, December 16, 2013. (photo: Activestills.org)

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Activestills is a collective of Israeli, Palestinian, and international photographers, united by a conviction that photography is a vehicle for political and social change. Our images are frequently published by many leading human rights, development, and advocacy agencies. To stay updated on our latest images, like Activestills on Facebook, visit our Flickr photostream, or get our email newsletter. Channel editors: Ryan Rodrick Beiler, Keren Manor, Shiraz Grinbaum.

As photographers, we believe in the power of images to shape public attitudes and to raise awareness on issues that are generally absent from public discourse. We view ourselves as part of the struggle against all forms of oppression, racism, and violations of the basic right to freedom.

About +972 Magazine

+972 is an independent, blog-based web magazine. It was launched in August 2010, resulting from a merger of a number of popular English-language blogs dealing with life and politics in Israel and Palestine.

+972 is an independent, blog-based web magazine. It was launched in August 2010, resulting from a merger of a number of popular English-language blogs dealing with life and politics in Israel and Palestine.